Testing with rifle in a vice

I test as I shoot in competition. So that's seated shooting at 50yd. 

I use a cheap rest and clamp the rifle down when testing cast ammo. Anything I can do to eliminate the shooter in equation I’m in . 

I do. Sometimes, it makes it easier to adjust the settings. Primarily, I do it because I can set up the chrony & shot box in front of the rifle and know that my shots will hit the same spot over and over and my chrony will be safe and consistent. I don't do it very often for group sizes.

I do not. If I were to use one, it would be a one time thing, so I find no point in investing into one.



I find anything under 2 MOA acceptable for long range hunting and I know my combination well enough to perform within those standards. I much prefer shooting off hand for the challenge but if I want precision I just use the bipod and shoot from the prone position or on a bench, and lay off the caffeine/coffee if I want very steady hands.



-Matt

What type of vise would you use?

If I was going to do it I’d try to use something like a tipton rest. 

you can use a Caldwell Lead Sled, rifle strapped in and weight in the tray

I have and use one of these....

http://www.ctkprecision.com/p3-ultimate-gun-vise.aspx

Do my chrony and scope work using it. I get the scope as close as possible, then fine tune to my hold/grip after that off a bench or rest without the vise.

IMO it's very helpful and makes things run much smoother and faster.

mike

I say sight in how you are going to shoot. If you can't hold steady enough to sight in from a field position, you can't hold steady enough to make the shot anyway. Reminds me of putting a scope on my M1 Garand thinking it would help with load development. I can shoot 2-2.5 moa with the iron sights from prone with surplus ammo. I never found anything better than 2 moa with the scope and various handloads, so why bother.

John in Ma and cm shooter -

These guys know.

All the benches and vices in the realm aren't going to do much if you are outside hunting off your shoulder and have no practice at off hand shooting.

There can be differences in hand held, shoulder held vs, bench/vice shooting. Best to practice as you shoot, or as is said in the Aerospace industry, "test as you fly".

I guess of course unless that's all you do is shoot from mechanically locked in..!?

Mike

Shooting from a vice (or any solid rest device) eliminates shooter error while setting up the gun for maximum performance. Practicing with actual field shooting is a separate issue. Both have their place and neither excludes the other.

I'm using a vice to determine compatibility of ammo with various rifles and barrels. I'll bring it out to my range and run 3-4 shot groups at various speeds to find out how they behave.

When I tune for that ammo / rifle / barrel trio, I will always use my bipod and rear hand bag - since this is my usual standard configuration. 

I find recoil to be the primary variable that produces shot error (between the two configurations). Trying to identify errors without the vise is unnecessarily time consuming, therefore I have opted to use the vise when auditioning new ammo.

I dont know and havent tried a vise with a PCP, but in the centerfire world it was the quickest way to loosen every damn bolt and screw on my rifle from the scope mounts/rings to action screws. Granted that was a 300win mag and the recoil is far greater of course. 

As for sighting in as bandg stated above, if you take your flaws out of it you will have the best sighted in gun when done. What you do with it from there is on you. 

another vote for the Lead Sled. I've got it setup so all shots across the chrony are the same. I don't strap it in, just let it sit in the cradle. Easy, no extra weight either. It's plenty heave enough for an Air rifle.

I absolutely use a vise to test various slugs and to tune the rifle to eliminate variables and get the most true results.

After that I believe you should practice as you are going to shoot, on the bench for target shooting and if for hunting, use the various positions you would realistically have in the field. And yes, I take a mat and along with offhand, practice prone and sitting at the range after I've finished the rifles tuning workup and ammo selection period using the vise.

Only practicing on the bench then trying to shoot an animal offhand is, in my opinion, a ticket to a wounded animal and is un-sportsmanlike cruel

Using a stationary vice would be ideal for barrel liner indexing. It's taking human error out of the equation to find the best group at a given index. Add to that then (in the vice) the sighting in and fine tuning the hammer spring and valve stop for harmonics and barrel whip as well, and you have one funky tuned and accurate pcp.